subject: Debt Relief - Who Is Making Sure Debt Settlement Companies Follow The Rules? [print this page] Debt has become a very serious issue these past few years since it is threatening to completely destabilize the economy, but the authorities have not just watched and let this happen. They have come up with different debt relief methods that have promised to eliminate debt and minimize the number of people filing for bankruptcy, but a lot of debtors are still having trouble using them or simply don't trust them enough to try and eliminate debt this way.
The most effective method is debt settlement, and it is used on debt of over ten thousand dollars, eliminating a large part of it. By negotiating with your creditor, you can get him to eliminate forty to sixty percent of your debt, consisting of annual fees, payment penalties and a lot of accumulated interest. But in order to get such a good deal, you will most likely have to hire a settling company, as most of the average users lack the necessary experience and information necessary to handle a negotiation process.
Before the new regulations were created, choosing a settling company came with its risks, as there were a lot of fraudulent or shady companies out there that promised a lot but didn't really deliver. This meant that there was a lot of potential for debtor to gain even more debt, without actually having gained any help for their existing problem. New legislation has changed this, since it states that no company is allowed to charge upfront fees if they have not settled the debt of their customer, meaning that you will not have to pay for services that you have not received.
If, despite all this, you suspect that your company is not quite legitimate, then you can contact the authority that registers this type of company and they will help you establish the status of your company. There is help available to help you choose legitimate companies from the start, but with the new legislation a lot of the shady companies are bound to go out of business for lack of customers and larger, legitimate ones will continue to help debtors all over the country.
Debt settlement is a viable alternative to filing bankruptcy. Most consumers are able to eliminate at least 60% of their unsecured debt while avoiding many of the negative consequences with filing bankruptcy. If you are over $10k in unsecured debt you will be eligible for debt settlement.
Debt Relief - Who Is Making Sure Debt Settlement Companies Follow The Rules?
